#🟡 Dahlia

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

"Oh thanks!" Alot more appear on purmond.

Cube seems startled and concerned about the sudden appearance of so many more spots. "You know, I was thinking maybe they weren't contagious," Cube says, "but with this behavior and their already-mentioned lack of methods keeping them ingrained, I really don't know what they are." They go back to the kitchen drawers and pull out a pair of gloves before brushing your new specks into a bag.

"ᵂᵒⁿᵈᵉʳ ʷʰʸ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵇᵉ⋅"

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

"I go for 1 second, and now lycan has mushrooms growing on them!?"

The quadruplets are staring at you from their basket. They keep shushing each other. Seems they want whatever it is to play out on its own. "Reminds me of my old home, at least?" Lycan says. Cube begins investigating the brightly colored specks and lumps across their friend's face. They tug on a few of the smaller ones, which pop out easily but keep glowing, like magic. They tap their chin. "I'm not sure what this is," they say. Lycan slumps slightly, disappointed. "It's not the fungus you'd be used to, as those only come in this cyan and the obvious pink," Cube continues, "but it's very strange. These don't seem to have any proper hyphae, just their fruiting body. It's like if a plant had the tiniest of roots but lived on the windiest of cliffs. It shouldn't exist."

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

A Story From Before The Anons.

The transition from the Fae Realm to the Mortal Realm is a long one, sometimes. The quartet knew that well, having travelled between worlds once every year for the precious needles. It was also a dangerous one. The Dealmaker often dropped in her lackeys and minions around now. They fought in the realmstream, the transition of in between. Instead it was… strangely lonely, with only the four siblings inside. The quiet settled in for a little. Then, Yellow spoke. "We know where they fell, right?" she asked. "Of course," Green answered. "We always do." "Ok, good," the triangular fae sighed. Orange hesitated. "…Is it quiet for anyone else?" they asked. "Yeah, aren't there normally other people in here with us?" Yellow looked around. They didn't see anyone… but that didn't mean much. "It's okay, everyone," Cyan said. "If they're coming, we'll see them. If not, all the better." Yellow and Orange were still antsy, and everyone began growing impatient. "There's never anything to do in here," Orange said. "I know, right?" Yellow complained. "It's like whoever made this just didn't think this through!" "That's our ancestors you're talking about--" Cyan was cut off as a blast of pink energy just missed him. "Attackers!" the little square yelled. The small swarm spread out, directing a subset of the blasts towards separate areas in the stream. They dashed and dived in the realmstream, watching the blasts burst on the edges of the stream. Cyan was first to reach the shield left in the stream. A common problem needs an easy solution, after all. The other three hid behind him. "The exit should be coming up soon," Green whispered to the others. He didn't want their enemies to hear. "We'll all fly out together, right?" Orange asked. "Yes, of course," Yellow said. "In the meantime, though, we will wait here, together." And so they did.

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

"I suppose I could hide behind you until I find something to hide behind or in," I say to Lycan. - Chompy

Orange nods. "I could do that as well, if we have room for it." "Green and I are both fast enough, so we should be able to find a place quickly enough." Lycan smiles. "Alright, in we go!" You all wave at Blixer as he passes by (seems he's finished packing for this) before you head in.

[map images will be up shortly!]

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

I figure I should make a few more references, so here's Yellow.

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I fly to the siblings. "So, now that you have two, and soon three if we can convince Shy, what's your plan now?" -Bluw

"We've actually got three, once we meet back up with Yellow and Orange." Cyan holds up the Triangle he pulled from Shy's bag earlier. Green carries the Triangle that Helico almost dropped while carrying Shy. "From there, the plan is simple. We will head back to our Realm with the Triangles to hold them there." "However, we will need a place to stay the night, as we shouldn't return in the dark. There are likely enemies of ours awaiting our arrival. They usually are, around this time." "You have a point, but we don't want to owe two favors. We'll have to find shelter for ourselves, or at least find a way to keep it even." Green nods.

"I don't know that Orange will be happy that we can't return home yet." "Maybe not, but hopefully Yellow has broken it to her by now. We've been out for a while, and I'd be surprised if they both haven't realized it by now."

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

"I go by Chompy," I say, shaking Blue's hand, "Funnily enough, I don't bite." - Chompy

The others come over. The quadruplets begin first. "You can call me Cyan. These are my siblings. They are called Yellow, Green, and Orange. The others here are not Fae, at least to their knowledge, but you should probably make their acquaintances as well." Cube comes over next. "You can call me Cube. These are my friends, who go by Helico, Lycan, Ship, and Blixer."

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

I flutter off of Cube's hand and go to the triplets. "Hey, so what's the plan?" I ask. -Blue

The quadruplets turn to you. "We've gotta find Shy before it gets dark. Both for the mortals sakes and ours." "We already searched the grass over there, but the bushes and trees seem like likely places for them to hide." "Albeit terrible planning in the long run, considering what will happen." "The caves are also a likely hiding place. We've explored the pink one, but the blue and the green are still possible places they could hide." "So, we'll split into four or five groups once we're back at the hills. We can check the trees, the bushes, and each of the other caves and even have a scouting group that watches for any strange movement."

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

I listen in, curious about their discussion. Blue

(Continuing from where they left off here...) "It was, but someone took two and ran." "Two? As in..." "Yes, they have two Triangles, and are currently hiding from us." "They should become easier to spot soon, then, right?" "Blue over there was worried about them and has been keeping them stable for the past few hours." "Understandably, since we did kinda scare them." "So, how long will it take for us to catch them in scan?" "In daylight it'd be two or three hours, but it'll be dark by then." "Our scan's always been bad in the dark. Barely catches whether someone's even a Fae. How long till they're pingable?" "It'll take another... two hours for their power to be pingable." "So, four or five hours." "Great. So the plan is to find them before dark, right?" "That's what I was thinking." "Okay. That's... not too bad. That should be doable. We've done harder things before."

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

I look to Helico. "We need to find Shy and their crystals, so we came here to check on you and ask if you want to look with us." I explain -Blue

"That sounds like something I could help with," she says. "Sure!" The quadruplets are still discussing things, but it sounds like they'll be finishing up soon.

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

I scan around the area, looking for them. -Blue

It takes a while to get there, but Yellow, Helico, and Ship are all waiting back at the clearing. Yellow looks up to see Cyan. "What took so long?" "We had a little detour, but we have one of the triangles." "Better than we did. I thought one of them was supposed to be by the stream?"

The quadruplets begin to discuss as Helico sees you. "Oh, hello again! How are you and Shy doing?" She looks around a little for them. "Wait, where's Shy?" "Remember that triangle they had?" Blixer asks. "Oh, yeah! The one that--oh," Helico realizes. "That explains why we couldn't find ours." "Yeah," Blixer says. "They've got two now." "But at least we've got one of them!" Lycan says. "Blue, did you want to meet Ship now that we're together?" Cube asks you.

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I mumble under my breath, checking on Cyan -Blue

He's okay. The kick mostly just surprised him, from what you can tell.

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*They aim another at Cyan before immediately fleeing.* —•

Cyan reels back, their siblings rushing to them as they're kicked away.

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* They skitter into the bushes, then stopped to catch their breath and listened for the group.* —•

The group stops at the bank on the other side. "One o' yer artifact's is o'er 'ere, eh?" Ship asks. "Yep! One over at the clearing you were all at, one that would've gone right by it towards the hills, and one over here by the stream!" "So, where should we start?" "I'd say downstream. If it got swept up last night, it'd end up that way." And off they go, away from you.

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

*they panic, and then cross the log as quickly as they could. They hold the pack’s handle tightly, trying to scout out any hiding places on the other side.* —•

There's some bushes with some space in their branches that would hide you well.

[just-wishes-and-faeries]

*After noticing the log, they walked to it.(as to not tire out their wings) Then they check to see if it was stable enough for them to cross, and if there was still those pink spiky things, or the group.* —•

The log feels sturdy. Both ends are covered in dirt, so it won't move anytime soon, either. The pink spiky thing must have disappeared into the grass. The group, however, is still approaching. None of them see you yet.